“I’ve learnt so many lessons from last time” – Amanda Sobhy on taking recovery one step at a time as she looks to return to PSA World Tour

USA’s Amanda Sobhy suffered a second Achilles rupture in December 2023 during the Hong Kong Open final against Egypt’s Hanisa El Hammamy. The American suffered the same injury on her left leg seven years ago but at 5-5 in the first game in Hong Kong, ruptured the Achilles on her right leg.

Obviously, Sobhy has not featured on the PSA World Tour since that match and after surgery six months ago, we checked in with the former World No.3 to see how her recovery process was advancing, what have been the important factors in her recovery and if she has any tournaments in mind that she would like to return for.

“I am almost six months post surgery now. Thankfully, it’s been going really well.” said Sobhy.

“I’m starting to do more sport specific stuff now and I’m getting back on the squash court and just doing things that I like doing. I’m getting to the point where my body is not feeling restricted anymore, which is very enjoyable. I can go and run and move in different directions and move laterally on a squash court and that’s just great. Being active just brings me so much happiness and so much joy.

“I’m taking it one step at at time. There is a tournament that I have in mind and I want to be at some sort of level for. The U.S Open in October would be a great one to aim for. But I learned some lessons from my last injury so I don’t want to rush it or say that I’m definitely going to be back for a certain event as that gave me so much anxiety last time, worrying if I’d be ready or not. Obviously I’d love to be back for the Paris Platinum but I’m not putting any pressure on a return this time.”

Sobhy explains that the recovery for this type of injury is a a slow process and last time, she put unnecessary pressure on herself to be on court and training which added extra anxiety. This time however, the American has only been on court when she wants to and admits that this change in mindset has helped a lot.

“I’ve been in and out on the squash court since six weeks after my surgery, just solo practice and slow stuff but I was very keen to stay involved after last time. I’ve just not put any pressure on it and I’ve been doing things for myself. If I wanted to go on court, I would, but if I didn’t want to then I wouldn’t. I’ve been doing games where the other player can only hit back to one quarter so that’s been really fun. But that’s been the biggest factor is this whole process. For many people it’s not enjoyable and don’t get me wrong, there have been times where I’ve been down but on the whole it’s not been a sad process.”

Sobhy has based herself in Florida at the Kinetic Club during her recovery and credits her positivity to the family atmosphere that the club has.

“That’s the beauty of being here at Kinetic, we’re a tight knit family. I’m going through a mentally challenging process, but where better to be then here. I had to surround myself in an environment where I can have good mental health. Down here in Florida, it’s sunny all the time, which helps, I couldn’t drive so some of the guys would pick me up and bring me to the club, even if I wasn’t doing anything, just being around and involved was so nice for me.”

“I’ve found this time so much easier. I learnt so much from the first time. I wouldn’t say I regret my recovery from when I hurt my left leg because I enjoyed but there were things that I could have done so much better. Now that this opportunity came along again, I wanted to do things a lot differently. I’ve been looking after myself, my nutrition, mental health, sleep, all of it. I’ve taken it week by week and ticked all the boxes that I had to and situated myself where I could do that the best.

“There’s no way that I could have done this process alone. It’s not easy at all, it’s just such a slow process and there have been many times where I’ve been so over it. But then I just think about how far I’ve come, almost 6 months ago is when I ruptured it and now I’m back to walking and moving a bit on court so having that perspective has been good.”

Although Sobhy hasn’t been able to compete, she insists that she is still a squash fan and has been watching and following the tour despite it sometimes being hard to watch knowing that a return still isn’t particularly close.

“I follow the tour a lot still. I’m still a squash fan but I knew there would be times where I would feel the sadness about not being out there. World Champs was one where I was quite jealous of everyone competing, because I was starting to move a bit around then so I just wanted to be there. I’ve come a long way but I still have a long way to go so to watch my peers competing in the biggest event was tough. But I am excited to come back.”